Gustav Klimt – Danae

Danae is Klimt’s painting of 1907: a young red-haired woman lies curled up as if asleep while a shower of gold pours between her thighs. Taking a subject from Greek myth, Klimt made it one of the most sensual works of his Golden Period. The original is in a private collection. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in eight sizes from 50 x 50 to 150 x 150 cm or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.

Danae – Gustav Klimt

What is shown?

One body fills almost the whole surface. A young woman lies on her side with her knees drawn up to her chin, her head resting on her arm, eyes closed and lips slightly parted. Her red curls spill across the top of the canvas, and a dark, transparent veil with small patterns trails over her body. From the left a stream of golden rain falls between her thighs: gold drops and small circles, and among them a narrow black rectangle that is hard to miss.

Klimt painted the body softly, in warm pink tones, and the surroundings almost abstractly, in gold, violet and dark areas. The composition is tightly cropped, as if we were looking from very close, and that closeness is what makes the painting so intimate.

Who is Danae in the Greek myth?

Danae was the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. An oracle told him that her son would kill him, so he locked his daughter in a tower where no man could see her. Zeus reached her all the same, transformed into a shower of gold, and from their union the hero Perseus was born.

Before Klimt the scene was painted by Titian, Rembrandt and many others, usually with Danae on a bed and coins falling from the sky. Klimt removed almost the entire story: no tower, no bed, no maid catching the coins. What remains is the woman and the golden rain.

What does Klimt’s Danae mean?

The painting shows the moment the divine touches a human being, and renders it as a physical, almost dreamlike experience. The golden rain is both Zeus and love, while the curled body recalls an embryo, so many viewers also read the painting as being about conception and new life, since Perseus is born from this moment.

Klimt returned to the female figure all his life, and in these years he liked to set it against gold. Danae is not a portrait of a real person; as in his other Golden Period works, it is an image of longing in which sensuality and ornament speak with one voice.

How did the painting end up in a private collection?

Danae has never belonged to a public museum. For many years it was with the Galerie Würthle in Vienna, which operated until 1995, and it then became part of the art collection of Hans Dichand (1921–2010). Today it belongs to his three children.

That is why you will not find the original in any museum’s permanent display. Seeing it in person means following the exhibitions to which its owners lend it. For anyone who would like to see it every day, a hand-painted version on their own wall is the most direct route.

Danae among Klimt’s works

Danae was painted in the same years as the best-known works of Klimt’s Golden Period, among them The Kiss, Judith I and Hope II. It shares their gold, sensuality and flat ornament, yet it is the most inward of them: no face looks back at us, and no story unfolds before us.

If you are looking for something more decorative and brighter, see also the later The Virgin, where several female bodies intertwine in a colourful swirl. Danae remains the more intimate choice, one figure and a single strong motif.

How is our hand-painted version made?

The painter first sets down the outline of the curled body on white canvas with a thin brush line, because everything depends on how the back, the knee and the arm curve. Then the skin is built up in several thin layers, from cooler shadows to warm pink lights, and only after that come the red hair, the dark veil and, last of all, the golden rain. The gold drops and circles are applied by hand in gold paint, one by one.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are ever quite the same. A printed oil painting reproduction cannot show the soft passage between skin tone and the shine of gold that a brush creates on canvas. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished work so you can check it before it leaves the workshop.

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 100 x 100 or 120 x 120 cm above a double bed, 80 x 80 cm above a chest of drawers or in a smaller room, and 150 x 150 cm for a large empty wall. Danae is almost square, so it sits well above a bed or a sofa, filling the space evenly.

There are eight sizes: 50 x 50, 60 x 60, 80 x 80, 83 x 77, 90 x 90, 100 x 100, 120 x 120 and 150 x 150 cm. The 83 x 77 cm size is the same as the original: 83 cm wide and 77 cm high, exactly in the proportion of Klimt’s canvas. The square sizes adapt the composition slightly to the format, showing a little more background at the edges. Because the subject is intimate, it suits a bedroom well; as a painting for the living room it should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it.

Soft light from the side brings out the gold. Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, and 20 to 30 cm above a bed or a sofa.

Custom size, stretcher and frame

If none of the eight sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure; we recommend the original proportion, 83 to 77. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.

For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows every one of our frame profiles on this subject, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood before deciding – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see how the painting will look on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service.

Delivery and guarantee

Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve. Our returns policy applies to every order.

Every other Klimt work we paint is in the Gustav Klimt gallery, and there is more about the painter himself in our article with ten facts about Klimt.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Klimt’s Danae today?

Danae is in a private collection in Vienna, not in a museum. Until 1995 it was with the Galerie Würthle; it then passed into the collection of Hans Dichand and today belongs to his three children. You therefore cannot see it in any permanent display, only at exhibitions it is lent to. Wikipedia has more on the painting.

Is the original Danae in a museum, and is it for sale?

No. The original Danae is not in a museum collection and is not for sale. Because it is privately owned, it has no publicly known market price. What we can state is the price of our hand-painted version, shown on this page for the size you choose. The work’s data are also collected on Wikidata.

Who was Danae in Greek myth?

Danae was the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos, who locked her in a tower because an oracle foretold that her son would kill him. Zeus came to her as a shower of gold, and she conceived Perseus. Klimt keeps only the woman and the golden rain from the story and leaves everything else out.

What is the meaning of Klimt’s Danae?

Danae shows the moment the divine touches a human being as a sensual, almost dreamlike experience. The golden rain is Zeus and at the same time love, while the curled body reminds many viewers of an embryo, so they also read the painting as being about conception and new life. Klimt does not tell the myth; he shows a single moment.

When was Danae painted?

Danae was painted in 1907, at the same time as The Kiss, at the height of Klimt’s Golden Period. In those years he brought gold, flat ornament and softly painted bodies into his paintings. It has since become one of the most recognisable images of the Vienna Secession and is still seen as one of his most sensual works.

What is the black rectangle in Danae?

The black rectangle in the golden rain is one of the most noticeable details and has no official explanation. Most readings see it as a male symbol, like the rectangles on the man’s cloak in The Kiss, mingling with the gold circles. Klimt wrote almost nothing about his paintings, so it remains part of the painting’s mystery.

Is Danae suitable for a bedroom?

Yes, Danae suits a bedroom very well, because it is intimate and calm, with no action that demands attention. Above a double bed, 100 x 100 and 120 x 120 cm work well. As it is a nude, some people prefer a more private room to the living room where guests gather.

In which size is Danae the same as the original?

Our 83 x 77 cm size is the same as the original Danae, which measures 77 cm high and 83 cm wide. In that size the painting keeps Klimt’s exact proportion, with no extra background at the edges. The larger square sizes suit big walls, while the original itself is a relatively small, intimate canvas painting.

Is Danae a good gift?

Yes, Danae is an emotional, personal painting, which makes it suitable for a partner, an anniversary or a wedding. Because we paint it to order in 15 to 45 days, order in good time. If you are unsure which size is right, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose the size and the subject.

• Subject: Danae, curled up, and the shower of gold in which Zeus visits her.
• Original: 1907, 77 x 83 cm, oil on canvas, private collection, Vienna.
• Ours: a Klimt reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in eight sizes or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: the 83 x 77 cm size matches the original; you receive a photo before dispatch.